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iGage
iG8 User Manual
We recommend that you not use ¼ wavelength antennas:
They require a ground plane at the base of the antenna and have significantly (about 1/2) the range of the ½ wavelength
dipole antennas we supply. The ¼ wavelength antenna are not suitable for use with the antenna extensions that we
supply with a base.
External Antenna Extension (Top of Pole Extension)
If you are having range issues, remove the external antenna extension cable and mount the Base antennas directly on the
bottom of the Base receiver. We expect at least 1-mile open range with the Base and Rover antenna mounted directly to
the heads. (Assuming no other users are on the same frequency.)
The most common cause of External Antenna Extension Wire failure is the termination on the pole side adapter due to
excessive wind-whipping. The second most common failure is closing the extension wire in the hinge of the carry case
which smashes the cable.
Loose TNC Antenna Connections
The antenna connector can become intermittent and not make a solid connection. If antenna is over-tightened, then the
connection points shown above can become ‘sprung’ and won’t make good contact unless the antenna is screwed in
even tighter.
This issue is very difficult to diagnose, however it is very simple to fix.
On the antenna connector bend the grounding sleeves out to make better contact:
Bending out the ground contacts on the antenna connector.
On the TNC connector, attached to the bottom of the GNSS receiver, bend the small gold fingers in to make better
contact:
Bending the center contacts in towards the center.
